5/6

6/6

You learn something new every day. Such as: New Zealand’s second-highest volcano, 2,518m Mount Taranaki on the North Island, is an active but quiescent andesitic stratovolcano.

If that sounds like gobbledygook, it seemed a lot more relevant when I heard it — not least because I was tracing a meandering path around Mount Taranaki’s deep-scarred, lava-streaked flanks, and had just been informed that the volcano isn’t likely to stay “quiescent” for much longer.

“The last eruption was around 1850,” I was informed by keen amateur geologist John Haylock, one of my two hiking companions. “Scientists reckon it erupts about every 90 years, so we’re overdue another one. Taranaki is one of the most perfect examples of a stratovolcano, though,” he added, hastily, seeing my startled expression — as if that made things so much less alarming.

In fairness, I was too absorbed by the spectacular landscapes, wildlife and Maori heritage of my surroundings to be overly concerned. It was a glorious April morning, azure skies unsullied by puffs of smoke or ash, when I joined John and local guide Nick Brown to walk the Pouakai Crossing.

This recently launched 18.4km hike winds across the northerly slopes of Taranaki and has been mooted as an alternative to the country’s best-known hike, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Often lauded as the “world’s best day-walk”, the latter is a 19.4km trek alongside the cones of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, the body-double for Mount Doom in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. But while the fame of that route draws some 100,000 hikers each year, Mount Taranaki sees only perhaps 3,000 — another good reason to try the freshly minted trail.

At the North Egmont Visitor Centre, the hike’s starting point, I drank in vistas of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe as surf rolled into the shores of the Tasman Sea to the north. And behind me, serene enough for now at least, loomed the hulking cone of tetchy Taranaki.

The Goblin Forest (Diane Cook and Len Jenshel/Getty Images)

The rivalry between Tongariro and Taranaki extends back long before the creation of hiking trails, the Maori believe. John told the legend in breathless bursts as we started our journey with a stiff climb.

“Long ago, the Maori say, Taranaki lived with other volcanoes in the centre of the island,” John recounted. “He and Tongariro both fell in love with Pihanga, a beautiful female mountain, and fought a mighty battle over her. Tongariro triumphed, and Taranaki — his wounds still visible today — fled south, finally settling here alongside his new partner, Pouakai.”

(Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images)

Like so many other New Zealand creation myths, it’s a story that enhances the mesmerising beauty of the landscape. But it’s also a cautionary tale. “The summit is the head of our mounga (mountain),” explained Nick. “It’s considered tapu (sacred) — so standing, sitting or eating at the very top is considered disrespectful.” And although many visitors to the park attempt the summit, not all make it back down. “Getting to the top is relatively easy,” said Nick. “But if the weather closes in it’s easy to mistake the route down — many have gone astray and died.”

The point was reinforced a couple of hundred yards further on when the Ambury Monument hove into view. This stone-built obelisk commemorates Arthur Ambury, who in 1918 made a heroic attempt to save one William Gourlay, who slipped on the ice and fell over the bluff now named for his would-be rescuer. Both died in the fall.

(Mark Dwyer/Lavamedia)

The Pouakai Crossing, though by no means for couch potatoes, isn’t such a hazardous undertaking. The first stretch is testing enough, climbing amid Goblin Forest, a wood of twisted kamahi trees dripping with ferns, mosses and lichens and ringing with the weird trills and whistles of tuis and bellbirds.

Our progress was slow, not so much because of the slope — though the incline was steep — but more due to our frequent stops to discover more about the area. I learned, for example, that the small boxes alongside the path were stoat traps, set to catch these pests introduced by foolish early settlers, which now prey on rare native birds — there are kiwis and whio (blue ducks) here, though you’d be fortunate to see them.

I also heard more about the curious rock formations that appeared above us: the lumpy lava flows streaking the slopes; the Dieffenbach Cliffs, organ-pipe rock formations named for the German scientist who first climbed Taranaki in 1839. We passed above the ochre deposits of the Kokowai stream, used by Maori to colour faces, carvings and clothes, and kept an eye out for giant carnivorous Powelliphanta snails marauding the undergrowth — though our ankles survived thankfully un-gnawed.

Mostly, though, we soaked up the views. The grand finale came as the afternoon light waned to a soft golden glow, and we reached the Pouakai tarns. Here, the mighty mounga was reflected and framed in the still waters of a round alpine lake, its muscular base grasping the earth like colossal buttress roots, its haughty summit a challenge to all — fellow lovelorn volcano or intrepid climber.

Solo travel destinations - in pictures

1/10
Thailand

2/10
Essaouria

3/10
Essaouria

4/10
Essaouria

5/10
Madrid

6/10
Mercado San Anton, Madrid

Mercado San Anton, Madrid

Taylor Hearts Travel

7/10
New Zealand

Intrepid Escape

8/10
New Zealand

Intrepid Escape

9/10
New Zealand

Intrepid Escape

10/10
Sunset in New Zealand

Intrepid Escape

Back into the Goblin Forest we delved, past horopito (“pepper tree”, whose leaves indeed taste peppery) and pikopiko (“bush asparagus”, whose shoots, well, don’t — unless sautéed in butter, according to Nick), descending to our pick-up on the Mangorei Road as the last daylight flickered. A short drive brought us to New Plymouth, the Taranaki region’s vivacious hub — the kind of typically lively, liveable New Zealand town where every shop, bar and café seems more tempting than the last.

I sighed into a streetside seat, cooling my fingers around an icy craft beer, watching as the mounga faded into the night’s embrace. One of the world’s most perfect stratovolcanoes, John says. Quite. And the walk’s not too shabby, either.

The Ambury Monument (Alamy)

Details: New Zealand

New Plymouth is served by flights from Auckland with Jetstar (jetstar.com) and Air New Zealand (airnewzealand.com). The latter flies from Heathrow to Auckland via Los Angeles.

Top Guides (topguides.co.nz). Guided Pouakai Crossing hikes from NZ$299pp (£175); shuttle between New Plymouth and the trail from NZ$35pp (£20).